United States Delegation Travels to Beijing for Talks with the DPRK

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

February 13, 2012

An interagency team of U.S. officials led by Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies will meet with a North Korean delegation led by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-Gwan in Beijing, China February 23, 2012. This meeting will continue the discussions that took place in July 2011 in New York and October 2011 in Geneva.

President of Djibouti Confers Title of 'Chevalier' on Diplomatic Security Special Agent

Press Statement

Washington, DC

February 8, 2012

Special Agent Lombardo, Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita, U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti Geeta Pasi, and Chief of Djibouti’s National Police Colonel Abdillahi Abdi Farah. (U.S. Department of State photo)

Michael R. Lombardo, a special agent for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, was bestowed the honorary title of “Chevalier” by the Prime Minister of Djibouti, Dileita Mohamed Dileita on February 5, 2012 at a ceremony in the capital city of that East African nation. The title was awarded to Lombardo in recognition of his outstanding effort while serving as the Regional Security Officer for the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti since August 2009.

Special Agent Lombardo worked closely with the Djibouti National Police (including Customs and Immigration personnel), the National Gendarmes, and the Djiboutian Coast Guard. The majority of his assistance work with the Djiboutian officials has been via the Anti-terrorism Assistance Program, a specialized training program for police officers and Gendarmes.

Lombardo was pleased to be selected for this honor and quick to share the credit with his colleagues, “I’m honored to be given this award, and I think that it recognizes the hard work that the entire office has put into the State Department’s assistance programs. Any time a Regional Security Office is recognized by another government, it is usually because they are assisted by a very capable staff, and supported by the entire organization. This is true in my case.”

Lombardo is the son of Amadeo and Marie Lombardo, formerly of Rochester, New York, and now of Meadville, Pennsylvania. He is a 1979 graduate of Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester. Following high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served as a military police investigator from 1980 to 1987. Following active duty he received a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Weber State University, Ogden, Utah in 1993.

Lombardo entered Diplomatic Security in March 1996. During his 15 years with the Bureau, he has served nine years overseas as regional security officer at U.S. embassies in Djibouti, Djibouti; Jakarta, Indonesia; Karachi, Pakistan; Bujumbura, Burundi; and Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. In the United States, Lombardo has been assigned to the New York Field Office and the San Francisco Field Office. In addition, he served for three years as a member of the Mobile Security Deployments team, a rapid deployment unit that is sent to areas of man-made and natural disasters.

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the U.S. Department of State’s law enforcement and security arm. The special agents, engineers, and security professionals of the Bureau are responsible for the security of more than 285 U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world. In the United States, Diplomatic Security personnel investigate passport and visa fraud, conduct personnel security investigations, and protect the Secretary of State and high-ranking foreign dignitaries and officials visiting the United States. The Bureau has more than 35,000 employees worldwide.

Additional information about the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security may be obtained at www.diplomaticsecurity.state.gov.

Diplomatic Security Service Helps Locate and Return Hawaii Fugitive to the United States

Press Statement

January 20, 2012

HONOLULU– Special agents from the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service completed a lengthy investigation in December when they helped locate a Hawaii fugitive, Cynthia Jean Reed, 50, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Mexican law enforcement authorities subsequently detained Reed on December 14 for immigration violations. She was deported to the United States in the custody of the U.S. Marshals on December 15. Reed appeared before United States Magistrate George C. Hanks in the Southern District of Houston on December 16 where she was charged with passport fraud.

The U.S. Marshals returned Reed to Hawaii on January 15. She appeared in the U.S. Federal court in the District of Hawaii today.

On December 15, 2011, a federal grand jury in Hawaii indicted Reed, 50, on the charge of knowingly and willfully using the identity of Christina Ann Ruehling to obtain a U.S. Passport. According to a criminal complaint previously filed in federal court in Hawaii, in 2004 Reed made false statements in submitting an application for a U.S. Passport in Christina Ann Ruehling’s identity in Lahaina, Maui, and used the illegally obtained passport while traveling in Florida, the Virgin Islands, Canada and Mexico.

Reed also is wanted on Hawaii state charges ranging from forgery to assault on a police officer.

“The U.S. passport and visa are two of the most coveted travel documents in the world. There are American citizens and foreign nationals who fraudulently acquire passports and visas to engage in identity theft and other criminal activities. This case demonstrates Diplomatic Security’s commitment to working with our worldwide law enforcement partners to investigate these crimes and help bring these criminals to justice no matter where in the world they may be,” said Wesley A. Weller, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, which has responsibility for Hawaii and the Pacific territories to include Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands and American Samoa.

Diplomatic Security Service’s Honolulu Resident Office worked with DSS Special Agents in the Mexican cities of Tijuana, Hermosillo, and Mexico City, Mexico, to track Reed’s travel to the Virgin Islands and the Mexican cities of Cancun and Mazatlan, and finally to the Mexican tourist resort city of Cabo San Lucas, where she was apprehended by Mexican law enforcement authorities.

Because the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service operates from a worldwide platform in 189 countries, DSS's capability to track fugitives who have fled U.S. jurisdiction to avoid prosecution is unmatched. During 2011, DSS assisted in the return of 207 international fugitive cases from every corner of the world.

If convicted, Reed faces up to ten years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. The charge against the defendant is only an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

In addition to Special Agents from the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the U. S. Marshals Service in Mexico City, Mexico; the United States Postal Inspection Service in Honolulu, Hawaii; and the United States Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General in Los Angeles, Calif., worked together on this case.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Johnson of the District of Hawaii.

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the U.S. Department of State's law enforcement and security arm. The special agents, engineers, and security professionals of the Bureau are responsible for the security at more than 285 U.S. diplomatic missions around the world. In the United States, Diplomatic Security personnel protect the U.S. Secretary of State and high-ranking foreign dignitaries and officials visiting the United States, investigate passport and visa fraud, and conduct personnel security investigations. More information about the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security may be obtained at www.diplomaticsecurity.state.gov

Contact:

Gale L. Smith

573-345-2507

Smithgl1@state.gov